Little League Insider Radio: Episode 2

On episode 2 of Little League Insider Radio, John Malone discussed some of the great games in New Jersey and Connecticut that he saw in the past week. Capitol City Little League assistant coach Brice Plebani of Washington D.C. called in to talk about his family lineage at the Eastern Regional as well as this year's team. The guys also took calls from fans in Maryland and Maine and talked about some national news around the country as the state tournaments begin to wind down.

Next week's show is going to be right in the heart of the regional tournaments. We'll be live in Bristol, CT for the Eastern Region tournament as well as taking calls from around the country as we head towards the Little League World Series.

You can play the show right here on this page, or download it from the bottom right corner of the link.

Without further ado...

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World Series Field Is Set... Previews Late Tomorrow Night

Well, Keystone, PA took care of business after the 22 hour rain delay and no Hiro Mizutani on the mound. The best team won the Mid-Atlantic though. There should be no complaints.

The World Series is shaping up to be a fantastic affair. With fan favorites in Pennsylvania and Warner Robins, GA plus a dominant pitching staff from California. The crowds should be huge. I planned on being in Williamsport for the first three days but I lost my hotel room. Anyone with a room for a blogger?! :-)

In-depth previews are coming by Late Tuesday night. I'm actually in central Pennsylvania now. I had to take my girlfriend to Maroon 5 at Hershey Park tonight. Back to Little League by Tuesday though. I promise.

Remember to tell all your baseball friends and family about the blog. Let's take a
Roll Call of folks going to Willy either this weekend or next. It should be a great time no matter what.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

With rain pelting the northeast today, it's highly unlikely that they get the final US championship game in today. It doesn't even look promising for Monday.

I know this much though. The Little League World Series is shaping up to be a dandy, especially if Keystone, PA wins.

Competitively, it's probably going to come down to Warner Robins, GA and Ocean View, CA, but add the fan bases for those teams plus Keystone hailing from just 25 miles away. Williamsport could be rocking with over 40,000 fans a day.

Montana winning the Northwest is an incredible feat. Being in Williamsport will be a blast for those guys. The only thing missing to make this LLWS complete is the Ugandan team from Africa. It stinks that we are stuck with the boring Arabian American Little League from RSA once again. If Uganda had overage players though, I guess it's the right move. If it was just political red tape, however, then it's a travesty that those boys won't be making the trip.

Be prepared for the most in-depth Little League World Series preview of all-time once the field is set.

Also, ESPN Classic usually runs LLWS games this week leading up to the series. It's always the standbys of 1980, 1982, 1989, 2007.  Well, this year, they've gone to the extreme. You can see games from almost every year of the 2000s, plus the greatest pitching duel ever in 2002. Add in Sean Burroughs team, and Todd Frazier, and it's a Little League fan's dream come true.

What was your favorite game, team, player ever???  Tell me in the comments.

UPDATE: 4:28P.M--  The Mid-Atlantic championship is still in a rain delay. Keystone, PA and Paramus, NJ are currently scoreless through three innings. Sources have told me that if the game is not completed by midnight tonight that Keystone, PA will be awarded the regional championship based on their record in the regional. Little League is doing everything they can to get the game in, however.

Also, Paramus was given the opportunity to play the game yesterday in an effort to get it in, but declined due to the eligibility of its star pitcher, Hiro Mizutani. Further updates will come as I get them.

7:18P.M.-- The tarp is still on the field. A lot of rain has fallen. I would hope they only play this game if the field is actually playable. The story that Pennsylvania will be named the champs is premature. Although, it is still an option. Keep watching ESPN2 and checking this blog for updates.

9:14P.M.-- Finally, the Mid-Atlantic Regional final was postponed for the night. New Jersey and Pennsylvania will resume the championship game at 10A.M. Monday morning in the top of the 4th inning. There will be no Garbrick or Mizutani on the mound. ESPN was incorrectly reporting that the pitchers were over 21 pitches and therefore could not finish the game. They were wrong. It's because the pitchers are over 41 pitches that they can't finish their 85. It's a special pitch count rule for weather-related postponements.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming

Wow. Was my last post about pool play on the money or what? Top seeds dropped like flies today around the country, and I'm sorry it hurts the Little League World Series when it happens. In the New England region, it hurt the most. Undefeated New Hampshire and 3-1 Connecticut each had to play their final pool play opponents for a second time in two days. Both New Hampshire and Connecticut pounded the top pitchers of their two respective opponents while not throwing their best hurlers, I might add. The games meant nothing to them, but they still won handily.

Now, they're both eliminated from the tournament.

Maybe we need to go back to the stone ages of the early 90's and go back to single elimination. At least everyone would be on a level playing field then. I agree that double elimination worked better than they would now if the regions weren't split into eight. Six team tournaments would be kind of lame. Maybe the answer is inviting two teams from bigger states ala Texas and California to make it 12 per region. I'm not sure, but something needs to be done.

If Little League is married to pool play, then they need to get rid of the semifinal round. Just allow the top 2 teams to advance and play a full round robin. Goffstown, New Hampshire, the best team in the entire East Region has been perfect from game one of its district tournament. One game of follies (EIGHT ERRORS!) after committing just one error in the four pool play games should not eliminate a team, especially when they lost to a team they easily beat, who happened to lose two games in the regional already (fair and square), and also lost in their own district tournament. It's not right.

Fairfield, Connecticut blew it in a different way. Did they lose to an inferior opponent who they already beat? Yes. However, Connecticut can only blame themselves with some really poor coaching decisions. Hitting for its most dangerous hitter (twice!), and its second most dangerous hitter once, was mistake number one in a game you're losing especially in a bases loaded two-out situation. Add the fact that they pull their ace at 35 pitches while losing 1-0 is even more ludicrous. I feel bad for that group of boys. Fairfield will probably be back next year though. They have a really strong group of 11-year olds.

Hello, Nebraska!

Kearney, Nebraska is another 2-2 team (seeded third) who took it to a higher seed today. Nebraska will play for its first region title ever now. That's huge for Little League in Nebraska, but whether they deserve it or not is another story. I'm assuming that Nebraska threw its ace in the semifinal being the underdog and South Dakota should be a heavy favorite in the championship.  While we're still discussing pool play and its issues, fourth-seeded Bend South, Oregon just upended undefeated North Bothell, Washington. Another one bites the dust.

This Blog's For You

Let me know in the comments if there is anything you'd like me to touch on or discuss more. I'm looking for some blogging ideas to keep this as fresh as possible over the next couple weeks. Please continue to share the blog link on your facebooks, twitter pages, emails, etc...